Monday, December 2, 2013

Whisky Shop W. Exclusive Wine-Finished Yamazaki

A couple of years ago, Whisky Shop W. started releasing 300ml bottles with specially vatted malt or grain from their distilleries. They were ideal gifts – interesting for novices (who didn’t want to splash out on full-sized bottles yet) and seasoned whisky drinkers (who are always keen to try different expressions) alike – and became very popular. Today, Whisky Shop W. are starting to sell their fifth release. This time it is a 10-year old Yamazaki that has been finished for 2 years in red-wine casks. This is further proof of a relatively recent trend towards wine-finishing in Japanese whisky (after Mars' wine-finished Iwai Tradition and 10yo, and Suntory’s Hibiki Deep Harmony). [For more information see my contribution to the next issue of Whisky Magazine.]

It is bottled at 43% abv and although the reported outturn is 1,500, Whisky Shop W. have informed us that (initially) 600 of these will be offered for sale in their online shop. Sounds like the perfect Christmas gift… but I wouldn’t wait for someone else to realize that. Grab one while you can!

More and more wine-casks are used for the maturation (often secondary maturation) of Japanese whisky. There is LOADS of Japanese wine... in fact, most parent companies of Japanese whisky distilleries own vineyards. In fact, it's difficult to understand why it has taken so long for them to (openly) start using ex-wine casks, seeing as they have plenty of them around.

Whisky Bars Kyoto

A few Links

Introduction

This site is probably the most comprehensive source on the Japanese whisky scene in English. It is also independent. No one who writes for Nonjatta is employed or paid by Japanese distillers and/or retailers.